العمارة الإسلامية في مصر

• Lecture VI: Intro to Islamic Architecture
• Islamic Architecture in Egypt and its Development

Eras of Islamic Architecture:

• The era of the Rashidun Caliphs and before the Tulunids: 20-254 AH (640-868 AD)
• The Tulunid era: 254-292 AH (868-905 AD)
• The Fatimid era: 358-567 AH (969-1171 AD)
• The Ayyubid era: 567-648 AH (1171-1250 AD)
• The Mamluk era: 648-923 AH (1250-1517 AD)
• The Ottoman era: from 923 to 1220 AH (1517-1805 AD)
• The era of Muhammad Ali: from 1220 to 1265 AH (1805-1848 AD)
• The modern era: extending from the era of Muhammad Ali to the present

Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas

• Established in 21 AH (642 AD)
• The Muslims conquered Egypt under Amr ibn al-Aas.
• Amr ibn al-Aas founded the city of Al-Fustat and built a mosque named after him in the year 21 AH (642 AD).
• The mosque was very simple, with an area of 50x30 cubits (15x25 meters).
• Its walls were built of mud bricks, its floor was covered with gravel, and its roof was made of palm fronds
• Its columns were made of palm trunks.
• The mosque has undergone changes and modifications in successive periods.
• The only thing that remains of the original structure is the location on which it was built.

Subsequent Modifications and Features:

• History has preserved successive images of the transformations and modifications it has undergone since its establishment.
• All these modifications included expanding its area and raising its ceilings.
• The palm trunk columns were replaced with marble columns.
• Its walls were decorated, and the number of its doors was increased.
• Some important architectural features appeared that were not present before.

Important Architectural Features of the Mosque of Amr ibn al-Aas

• The four minarets were commissioned by Muawiyah (the first Umayyad Caliph)
• In 53 AH (672 AD) Muslimah bin Mukhallad Al-Ansari constructed them at the corners of the mosque
• patterned after the towers that were at the corners of the old temple in Damascus.
• These minarets were actually the nucleus of the minarets that were built in Egypt later.
• There are many of them now, and their designs have evolved and diversified.
• The concave mihrab was added by Qurra bin Sharik, the governor of Egypt on behalf of Al-Walid bin Abd al-Malik, in 93 AH (712 AD).
• He was inspired by the concave mihrab that Omar bin Abd al-Aziz had created in the Mosque of Medina in the year 88 AH (706/707 AD).

Expansions during the Umayyad Period:

• The expansions that took place in the mosque during the Umayyad period were inconsistent.
• In the year 212 AH (827 AD), Abdullah bin Taher (the governor of Egypt on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Ma'mun) ordered its expansion from the western side by an area equal to its then area.
• Its area doubled, becoming approximately 112 by 120 meters.
• This was the culmination of the expansions that took place in it, and the mosque has retained this area until now.
• At that time, its layout consisted of an open courtyard surrounded by four arcades, including the qibla arcade, which contains rows of arches perpendicular to the mihrab wall.
• The mosque had thirteen doors, three of which are in the northern wall (specifically the northwest)
• there are five in the eastern wall and four in the western wall.
• There is one in the qibla wall.
• The four arched windows were opened at the top of its walls, with a niche covered with a pointed hood between every two of them.
• The mosque in its current state includes a large courtyard leading to three open doors in its northwestern facade
• it ends in the southeast with the qibla arcade, which consists of arches carried on marble columns parallel to the mihrab wall, dating back to the mid-19th century.
• an important thing to note in the qibla arcade is the wooden drums above some of the column capitals
• carved with prominent decorations dating back to the construction of Abdullah bin Taher in the year 212 AH (827 AD).
• The external walls of the mosque are a mixture of different eras, most notably what also dates back to the days of Abdullah bin Taher.
• The walls consist of some windows in the western facade with their decorations engraved on wood.
• There are also some windows in this facade and in the northern facade that date back to the construction of Amir Salar for this mosque in the year 703 AH (1304 AD).
• The construction of Amir Salar for this mosque in the year 703 AH (1304 AD) included that beautiful stucco mihrab that still exists now in the northern facade.